Carrion Luggage (Book)

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Carrion Luggage

Carrion Luggage

Native to the Americas, the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) travels widely in search of sustenance. While usually foraging alone, it relies on other individuals of its species for companionship and mutual protection. Sometimes misunderstood, sometimes feared, sometimes shunned, it nevertheless performs an important role in the ecosystem.

This scavenger bird is a marvel of efficiency. Rather than expend energy flapping its wings, it instead locates uplifting columns of air, and spirals within them in order to glide to greater heights. This behavior has been mistaken for opportunism, interpreted as if it is circling doomed terrestrial animals destined to be its next meal. In truth, the vulture takes advantage of these thermals to gain the altitude needed glide longer distances, flying not out of necessity, but for the joy of it.

It also avoids the exertion necessary to capture live prey, preferring instead to feast upon that which is already dead. In this behavior, it resembles many humans.

It is not what most of us would consider to be a pretty bird. While its habits are often off-putting, or even disgusting, to members of more fastidious species, the turkey vulture helps to keep the environment from being clogged with detritus. Hence its Latin binomial, which translates to English as "golden purifier."

I rarely know where the winds will take me next, or what I might find there. The journey is the destination.

Show Recent Comments

10 Most Recent Blog Comments:

Jellyfish - HAPPY 25th WDC!!

about 4 hours ago
In response to "WDC25, Day 7"

In conclusion, the most likely reason, in my view, that we haven't been contacted isn't because we're sinners, but because there's no one nearby with the capability to detect us or get here quickly. That's it. That simple.

I agree.

And, I don't think we are the end product at all. Our advances in technology have surpassed our advances in behaviour and how we treat each other, and the rest of the planet. Really we are still pretty much like animals a lot of the time - but with mobile phones

I think there is still more evolving to do. And who knows, maybe a new species will take over as top dog, and humans might even become extinct.

Have you read the book "The Hail Mary Project?" It's really good, and an interesting depiction of the "aliens" we might meet some day...

Robert Waltz

Sep 5, 2025 at 12:49pm
In response to "WDC25, Day 5"

Dawn Embers

: Yes, I was amused.

Dawn Embers

Sep 5, 2025 at 12:35pm
In response to "WDC25, Day 5"

The links don't work but when I googled the "title" I was able to find one to watch. Maybe it doesn't need the look but what about those dance moves? Are you sure the mustache isn't needed? It is sort of giggle worthy at the very least.

Jellyfish - HAPPY 25th WDC!!

Sep 5, 2025 at 11:52am
In response to "WDC25, Day 5"

I like Disturbed 😊

Robert Waltz

Sep 5, 2025 at 11:24am
In response to "WDC25, Day 5"

🌖 HuntersMoon

- Accordions have their place, mostly in Weird Al parodies. There was a Far Side where it was like "Welcome to Heaven. Here's your harp." "Welcome to Hell. Here's your accordion."

Though I'd replace "accordion" with "bagpipes."

Which reminds me of this story I wrote a while back: "The Ghost Piper of Edinburgh Castle"

[18+]

🌖 HuntersMoon

Sep 5, 2025 at 11:16am
In response to "WDC25, Day 5"

All music is individual, Bob. My playlist (assuming I had one

) would run from Vivaldi to Disturbed. Nothing with an accordion, however. And a one, and a two... (Now there's a reference few will get)

1 Like

Jellyfish - HAPPY 25th WDC!!

Sep 5, 2025 at 3:00am
In response to "WDC25, Day 5"

Haha yea I think I'm definitely a minority of one in general 🤦‍♀️it's tough!

I have a VPN on my phone and tablet, I would have no idea what this is but for my BFF works in IT and subscribes to one and I share it, so when I go abroad I can watch UK TV etc.

I thought the first music video was "Take on Me " by AHA. That's a great video I think 😊🎵

2 Like

Wordsmitty ✍️

Sep 4, 2025 at 2:44pm
In response to "WDC25, Day 4"

Wasn't there some old poem about cutting the cheese?

1 Like

🌖 HuntersMoon

Sep 3, 2025 at 10:40am
In response to "WDC25, Day 3"

Alaska is a state? Oh, right, you can see Russia from there.

1 Like

Asterix

Sep 3, 2025 at 9:48am
In response to "WDC25, Day 3"

I also just realized that I have been to Michigan. I even went to school in Detroit for a couple of weeks. That where I met my husband.

2 Like

September 6, 2025 at 1:02pm

#1096788

WDC25, Day 6

Well, today's "Blog Week Birthday Bastion 2025"

[E] prompt is a bit different from what I'm used to. But I've always said I can write about anything. However, I never promised it'd be good.

The full prompt is below, in the dropnote, but it's basically: do two reviews.

This doesn't give me much room, so today, I'll just share the reviews I did, which are both for entries related to yesterday's prompt. The reviews are public anyway, so I'm not sharing some sort of secret information or anything like that.

"Birthday Bastion 2025 | Day Five" from "\\ Exurgency // " [18+] by LdyPhoenix

A great illustration of the tension between what we want and what we want. That is, to give up (or mostly give up, in this case) something we love to achieve better health or some other desired outcome: it’s a real trade-off.

The song in the video prompt is a humorous ode to coffee, and this entry is mostly about the subject matter of the song rather than the video itself. This is not a criticism; it’s an acknowledgement that we can take prompts in all kinds of different directions.

While I’ve never developed a taste for coffee myself, I do understand missing something that you used to enjoy. Could I give up something I love in exchange for the possibility (not the guarantee) of better health and/or a few more days of life? Probably not, but I enjoyed reading this entry anyway.

The only thing I might suggest is to go into more detail about “coffee might disappear” and “environmental impact,” but I realize that this could end up in controversy, and I probably wouldn’t go there, either.

"Those Little Things" from "Racing Through Life" [18+] by Kit

We all have our favorite things, and other things we don’t enjoy. You say this is “an interesting challenge” because the prompt is about things that you don’t partake in, but in this entry, you rose to the challenge very well.

Like you, I prefer tea to coffee, which probably made this video prompt less relatable. But turning it into an entry about the things you do enjoy is a good way to address the prompt. One might say it goes off on a tangent, but there’s absolutely no reason not to.

One thing I appreciated about this entry was the organization, with bolded section headers. This helps make it easy to follow. And while not everyone is going to share your preferences, you do well in explaining what it is about these things that you enjoy. Not that we’re owed such an explanation, but it makes things more relatable: while everyone likes different things, we mostly like those different things for similar reasons.

Notes: ▼

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